Portuguese Beef Stew (Carne Guisada)

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My Vavô had Portuguese soup for supper every night when he got home from work, but Sunday’s were reserved for his favorite meal… Beef Stew. In St. Michael meat was expensive, much too expensive to have on a regular basis.  So, when the family moved to the United States and a better life was set before them, my Vavô worked hard to achieve that better life for his family and to enjoy such luxuries in life as Beef Stew on Sundays.

Fernando Mota, my Vavô, achieved what he wanted for his family, he bought a home, became a U.S. citizen, paid taxes, raised three children, had several grandchildren and a few great-grandchildren before he passed away.  He achieved the American dream in every sense of the term.  Now all three of his children continue what he began by working hard, owning homes and helping their children and grandchildren to achieve the same and better.  I wish my children could sit at a table with their great grandparents and enjoy a big bowl of Beef Stew.  But, the next best thing is to chronicle these little details of my grandparents lives for them to learn about as they grow up.  And food is a wonderful place to begin that journey of remembering and telling family stories.  I like to use food as a vehicle to help my children to stay rooted in their heritage.

My family’s Beef Stew recipe is a melt in your mouth favorite, meant to be enjoyed with a good piece of Portuguese bread to sop up the molho (gravy/broth).  You won’t find vegetables as you might in a traditional American Beef Stew, it’s made up of mainly meat and potatoes.  And the flavors are out of this world with pepper, onion, garlic and spices.  Take a look and see how we do it…

Start by taking your meat out of the fridge… you want it to come to room temperature. This dinner is meant for my small family, so I used just over a pound of chopped up beef, the packaging said “stew meat”.

Start preparing your ingredients by dicing one med/large onion.

1/2 lb. or 1 link of hot portuguese chouriço. If you like things a little less spicy, mild is fine too.

Peel the chouriço.

Slice.

Collect about 8 or 9 medium all-purpose potatoes. Nothing fancy here.

Peel them.

Chop them up.

And finally… One large clove of garlic.

Peel.

Add some olive oil to a large pot and heat over medium heat.

Add your onions in.

Next, add in your chouriço.

Add in your meat before you add in any liquid… sautée.

Add garlic to the pot.

Use 1/2 tsp. of Portuguese Allspice.

Add in one heaping Tbs. of crushed red pepper. This is not a terribly spicy pepper, it has some kick, but definitely mild in comparison to some hot sauces out there.

Add in potatoes.

Add in one full beer then refill that bottle with water and add in.

You should come right up to the top of your meat and potatoes with liquid, if it’s a little over, don’t worry, it will all soak in nicely.

Add in 1/2 a small can of tomato sauce.

Add in 1/2 a small can of tomato sauce.

Add in a pinch of salt to help with the seasoning of the potatoes, but don’t go nuts here, the pepper and the chouriço both have a good amount of salt in them as it is.

Simmer with the lid on over a med/low burner.

You should stir this every once in a while throughout the simmer.

In order to make this recipe work, this next part is essential. You need to cook this low and slow not only until the potatoes are tender, but until they just about fall apart on you. It’s the starch from the potato that brings the thickness to the molho (gravy/broth). Once the potatoes cook as described, taste for salt.

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Recipe for Portuguese Beef Stew (Carne Guisada):

(serves 4)

2 lbs. chopped stew meat

1/2 lb. Portuguese hot chouriço, sliced

1 med/lg. onion, diced

1 clove fresh garlic, crushed and peeled

8-9 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped

12 oz beer (or red wine for gluten-free preparation)

12 oz water

1/2 small 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 heaping Tbs. crushed red pepper

1/2 tsp Portuguese Allspice

pinch of salt

olive oil

(additional cooking water may be needed to keep moist during the cooking process)

Directions:

Once all the ingredients are prepped, heat a large pot with a few Tbs. olive oil over medium heat. Add in onions, sautée for a couple minutes.  Add in chouriço and stew meat.  Stir.  Add in  Allspice, garlic, and pepper, stir.  Add in potatoes, beer, water, salt and tomato sauce.  Stir. Cover and simmer over a med/low burner stirring about every 10 minutes or so.  Cook for at least 1 – 1 1/2 hours until potatoes are extremely tender. (If during that hour and a half you see that it is starting to get dry before the potatoes are very well cooked, add in additional water, beer or wine accordingly)

Enjoy with a fresh Portuguese roll!

*note: This is a gluten-free recipe with the swapping out of beer for wine or as always gluten-free beer.

*note: to make your own Portuguese Allspice: combine 1/2 cup plain paprika (not smoked or spicy), 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp turmeric and 1/2 tsp. grated orange rind

*note: this can easily be made in a slow cooker, 8 hrs on low, just be sure when it is done, potatoes are beyond tender

Crock-Pot Country Style Ribs – Asian Edition

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Today was a beach day in our house… Went grocery shopping this morning and picked up cold cuts, cheese, fruit and drinks for the beach.  But, I also picked something up so that dinner would be waiting for us when we got home from the beach.  Because, I don’t know about your family, but in my family with two toddlers running around in the sand and splashing about in the surf, Mommy and Daddy are plumb pooped when we get home!  So, the last thing I want to do is think about putting a healthy dinner on the table.  That usually means a stop at some greasy place for an unhealthy and costly dinner. And although it might be tasty, it usually leaves us all feeling blah.  But, not today.  Today I found country-style ribs on sale at the market.

Country-style ribs are usually pretty inexpensive, but how could I pass them up at $1.69 per pound?  Not to mention, they are one of my favorite things to cook in a cock-pot. Timing for this recipe is kind of perfect not only for the rest of the beach days summer has to offer, but it is perfect for low stress football party eats and for busy moms and dads on the go come the school year!

This asian edition of country-style ribs will be my first recipe to share with you on this inexpensive cut of meat, stay tuned for more…

At under $6 for over 3lbs. of meat, how could I pass it by?

Country-Style ribs have small bones in comparison to the great amount of meat on them.

Start off by sprinkling the meat with a little kosher salt.

Then add on a sprinkle of garlic powder.

I decided that in interest in saving myself both time and dishes, I would just mix up my braising liquid right in the crock pot bowl.

I start with about one cup of ginger ale… Ginger is a pretty common ingredient in most Asian foods, this is a quicky version.

Next add in about 1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce… Normally I like regular soy sauce for dipping and adding on top of foods, but to add regular to a liquid that will concentrate down into the meat would be a bit too salty.

Next add in some Rice Vinegar.  This adds a bit of tart to off set the sweet we are about to add in.

Next add in some Rice Vinegar. This adds a bit of tart to off set the sweet we are about to add in.

Add in 1/2 a jar of Ah-So (1/2 cup)

Add in 1/2 a jar of Ah-So (1/2 cup)

Then just a couple tablespoons of oyster sauce.

Then just a couple tablespoons of oyster sauce.

Lastly add in about 1 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes.

Add in a bit of brown sugar to sweeten things up.

Add in a bit of brown sugar to sweeten things up.

Get all the ribs nice and cozy into their cooking liquid. Turn on to high for about 5-6 hours.

Here is what your meat should look like when through cooking… It should be fall off the bone delicious at this point.

The meat falls right off the bone at this stage!

The meat falls right off the bone at this stage!

Now to finish it off, just whip up a quick sauce.  Add in the other half of the Ah-So  sauce to a clean bowl.

Now to finish it off, just whip up a quick sauce. Add in the other half of the Ah-So sauce to a clean bowl.

To thin it out, add in 2 Tbls. of Rice Vinegar.

Slice up a scallion or two.

Add in about 1/2 cup of orange soda or orange juice if you have it.

Mix it all up.

Remove from the crock pot avoiding bones.

And add it over your readied meat.

Be sure to pick out bones.

Shred meat into big or little pieces and place into your serving bowl.

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Recipe for Crock-Pot Country-Style Ribs – Asian Edition:

(serves 4)

3 lbs. Country-Style pork ribs

For the cooking liquid:

1 cup ginger ale

1/2 cup Ah-So sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce

2 Tbs. Rice Vinegar

1 Tbs. Oyster Sauce

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. garlic powder

For the sauce:

1/2 cup Ah-So sauce

1/4 cup Orange soda or orange juice

1 Tbs. Rice Vinegar

2 scallions, sliced

Top with chopped cilantro

Directions:

Sprinkle meat with salt and garlic powder.

Then in the bowl of a large crock-pot add in the ginger ale, Ah-So sauce, brown sugar, oyster sauce, low sodium soy and red pepper flakes. Stir.  Add the meat in to the bowl of your crock-pot, cover and set to high for 5-6 hours.

Then mix up the sauce.  Mix together the Ah-So, orange soda (or juice), Rice Vinegar and scallions.

Remove meat from the cooking liquid and place in a serving dish.  Add sauce over top and endure that all bones have been removed while shredding the meat.

Top with chopped cilantro.  Serve over jasmine rice as pictured or in a sandwich or over an asian salad… Any way you serve it, enjoy!

 

Our day at the beach 🙂

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My loves <3

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